


Tatarimokke

by eternal_song



Category: Dororo (Anime 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Spirits, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 03:00:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18460100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternal_song/pseuds/eternal_song
Summary: According to folklore, a tatarimokke is the spirit of a dead infant trapped in the body of an owl. It haunts the house of its former family and, depending on how it died, it can either be a blessing or a curse to have one around.





	Tatarimokke

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the legend of the [Tatarimokke.](http://yokai.com/tatarimokke/)  
>   
> I promise I'm still working on my other fics, but this plot bunny hit me like a freight train.
> 
> I'm gonna call this finished for now, though I do have some other ideas for it I may return to someday, after I've finished my other WIPs.

_I want to live! Please, I want to live!_

I don’t know where I am. There was a loving presence surrounding me earlier after the pain hit and the world went dark and silent, but it’s gone now. Someone else is there, but they aren’t the presence I want.

I’m so confused. This presence doesn’t want to hurt me, but it’s sad, and it’s holding me down in this place where I can’t breathe. I want to breathe. I want to live.

The world fades. I don’t want to go.

 

* * *

 

The midwife released the baby’s pitiful form and felt a tear drip down her cheek as the corpse settled onto the riverbed within the protected eddy she’d held him in. She should be used to this sort of thing, at this point in her career. She’d seen so many infants die or come out of the womb already dead. This infant, more pitiful than any she’d seen before, would not have lasted the night. She tried to tell herself it was kinder to have killed him. He would have had a short, miserable life, and it would have broken the lady’s heart even more than it already was to have to watch it happen.

When the demon appeared behind her, she had just enough time to wonder if this was her punishment.

 

* * *

 

Biwamaru made short work of the demon, though he arrived too late to save its victim. He took a moment to say a short prayer for their soul. A small glimmer from the river caught his attention, and he tilted his head at it in curiosity. It was a tiny human soul, rapidly fading. It flickered a few times as if trying to hang on, but Biwamaru could tell that its body was already dead.

“You’d better move on, little one. This world has nothing for one such as yourself,” he murmured, saddened at the presence of such a young ghost. “Go reincarnate to a better life.”

He said another prayer and watched as the child’s soul faded into nothingness.

 

* * *

 

_I don’t want to go!_

I try to find something to hold on to, but I feel myself slipping away from the world. I’m not ready to leave, and I search desperately for that loving presence that I felt earlier. Something is pulling me away, but I pull back, harder.

In the distance, I finally find it, the presence I want. They’re sad now, but if I join them, I can make them happy, right?

I don’t know how, but somehow I have more freedom than I did a moment ago. I can feel where I want to go, and I go there. I have to find them…

A strange sensation overtakes me. It isn’t painful or unpleasant this time, so I let it wash over me. The tugging on me has changed direction, and now I’m heading straight for the loving presence. I try to hurry.

And suddenly, I’m blinking new eyes, disoriented and solid again. This isn’t the same body I had before, but it feels… better. More whole. I can feel the night wind blowing lazily past me as I sit in the branches of a tall tree. My feet grip the branch below me. I’m covered in feathers, and none of this feels odd. It feels right, somehow. In this form, I can finally experience the world. The loving presence is behind a wall, and I can feel them, but I don’t know how to get to them.

I want to call out to them.

Can I do that, in this body? I tried with my last one, but it didn’t work.

I try, and a low, mournful hooting noise escapes me. The sound surprises me, but I notice the loving presence becoming alert. Perhaps if I call out to them again? I make the noise again— louder, more insistent. They stir, coming closer to the part of the wall closest to me. I shift my feet impatiently on the branch and hoot again.

_Please, I want to see you! I came back for you!_

I try to put all these feelings into my call, though I can’t form words. That’s okay, though, because they slide open the wall and step outside, looking around with nervous tension. I can't contain my excitement at seeing them. I call out again and flap my wings, beating the air noisily. They look up and see me.

“Boya?” their— her— voice is soft. I hoot again and fly from the branch, unsteady wingbeats carrying me towards her— my mama.

 

* * *

 

Nui no Kata knelt at the shrine, hands clasped before the now headless Kannon figure, though no words escaped her lips. She had shed every tear her body could produce and murmured every prayer she could think of, praying that the Goddess of Mercy would protect her son’s soul. She couldn’t even muster up any anger at her husband, though she knew she should. The anger had passed into sorrow when she realized that there was nothing she could say which would make him regret his actions or bring their son back.

The hours had passed in a haze of fitful sleep and restless praying, and she felt no better for it. She wondered if she would always feel this way, or if the pain would somehow pass.

A soft hooting noise caught her attention. She hadn’t realized there were any owls living on the estate, and her mind immediately jumped to folktales of demons and ghosts.

 _I’m being irrational,_ she scolded herself. _I’m still upset and remembering my husband’s talk of demons earlier, that’s all._

Despite this, when another hoot floated through the night, she stood and made her way to the shoji door. Her hand hovered over the handle. This was foolish, she knew, but she couldn’t ignore the urge to investigate. The owl’s call had sounded so plaintive.

It came again, demanding and loud, almost pleading. Sliding open the door, she stepped out into the night. Her tabi made quiet padding noises on the wood as she stepped onto the deck. She looked around but didn’t see anything until another hoot and a noisy flapping drew her attention to the tree in the center of the inner courtyard. She stared up at the owl. It was small for its species, which she knew could grow quite large, and still had some downy feathers clinging to it. A fledgling, then. Its bright orange eyes peered into hers, and she remembered the tales of the tatarimokke; the spirits of dead infants who came back to guard or haunt their families, depending on how they died. She wondered which motivation this one had for coming here.

“Boya?” she asked timidly. If her son was back, then it didn’t matter why he was here. She would accept whatever judgment he wanted to pass on a mother who couldn’t protect her own son.

The owl hooted again and took flight on unpracticed wings. He flew unsteadily towards her, but she sensed no malice coming from him. On the contrary; he seemed overjoyed to see her. He folded his wings and dove at her chest and, on pure instinct, she caught him in a ball of speeding feathers that nearly knocked her backward. Her arms wrapped around him, and she hugged him to her chest as she had hours before, when he was still human. His talons gripped the fabric of her thin kimono as his wings wrapped around her upper arms in a feathery embrace. He buried his face beak-first against her throat and trilled happily.

New tears rushed forward as Onui buried her face in the top of her son’s feathery head and cried. A feeling of love and safety enveloped her, and though she wasn’t sure whether it was coming off of her or her son, she basked in it. The gods, or perhaps her son, had heard her prayers after all.

**Author's Note:**

> For those who are wondering, Hyakkimaru comes back as a [Blakiston's fish owl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blakiston%27s_fish_owl), which is native to Hokkaido and is the largest living owl species.
> 
> I was researching yokai last night and came across the tatarimokke, and the plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone. I suspect Fetuscakes may kill me for springing this on them. I wrote this in 2 1/2 hours in an IHOP because my internet is out and posted it from my phone, so if there are any errors, be a dear and let me know.


End file.
